New (old) truck - 1986 Toyota Hulix 4x4 - Build thread

[ps2fixer]

Well to make a long story short, been looking for this truck for ages, sadily it is in poor shape and needs a lot of work, but I found it, and it was a good price . Came with 2 parts trucks as well, so the main thing I need to do is get the body fixed up so it won't rot out in a year or 2 lol.

Specs:

22RE engine out of some newer truck (don't even know if it is a 2.2L or 2.4L)
4x4 (rear axle needs rebuilt/replaced, was dry when I hulled it, and to load it backwards on the dolly to get it home).
5 speed stick, seems to work fine of the good 3 mins I messed around with it running lol
Body = trashed/rusted, I live in Michigan, it is standard for anything 20+ years old to be rusty

Parts machines:
Both 22r engines (carbed)
Both 5 speed manuals, one is 4x4, other is 2x4
The 4x4 one has a really badly rusted frame, so going to save the axles, drive shaft, and cab, box is already on the truck above and engine/trans from both parts machines are already out too.
Other truck might get fixed up too, not sure as of yet.

No photos yet, will get them as I get a chance. I have to go get the parts trucks yet, but not bad for $550 for it all.

I can't find a very good base line for MPG on this truck for real world driving, seems it ranges from 20 to 28mpg which isn't exactly great, but isn't too bad.

Seems the last owner thought he was handy at fixing up cars/trucks, but his yard is littered with dead machines, he swapped the 22re engine in, but failed to hook up half the sensors. He claims he drove it this way for 60k miles (truck has 140k on the body) and all of a sudden it wouldn't idle, a wheel bearing is hanging up (more like the axle bearing in the rear end), and it has no brakes as the brake lines are rusted all apart. Oh he "fixed" the frame rot problem by welding chainsaw bars onto the frame, I lol'ed when I saw that. His comment "Them chainsaw bars are real strong".

So here are my plans with it in no special order

Get it running right, and road worthy
Clean up the frame, and do a proper fix on it and paint it to prevent further rust
Cut out the rust holes and patch up the cab so it is solid again and the driver's seat isn't bobbing around with the bumps.
Bedliner the underside of the cab, maybe the frame too

I'm not sure what to do with the box, of what the last owner claims, it is a rare box since it is fibre glass on the outside, and galvanized steel on the inside (which has surface rust). Might try to get another cab/box off a non-runner if one comes up on craigslist for cheap with a better body (not likely).

Planned ecomods:
-Belly pan!
-Grill block
-Max sidewall presure on tires (need to be replaced too lol)
-Some sort of boat tail like topper (I got 2 with the 3 trucks I could try to modify)
-Electric fan (have some off other cars, just need to wire up a heat sensor etc to turn it on/off)
-Small air dam (it is a truck, and will be used as one, so can't go down too far, but there is a good 1 foot or so of area that needs to be covered up)
-warm/hot air intake depending how it effects mpg, I suspect a cold air intake would be bad for FE, but might make a flap system, so when I need more power, i can switch to the CAI

Not sure how fast this build will go, but will try to keep the post updated . My first target of course is to get the truck worthy for the road and do the very basic mods, probably won't be going for this winter, so might do the body work etc all in one shot. My first target once the truck is on the road is 30mpg for my current route to/from work (~40 miles per direction, 40-45mpg in my corolla 1.8L auto). I'm hoping to hit around 40mpg, and I would just drive it all the time to work, since I enjoy driving a stick more, and the fact it is a truck. People throw out stuff quite often that I could pick up to fix/scrap and a truck really helps a lot .

Anyone else have experence with these little trucks? My dad has a 89 Mazda Pickup 4x4 which he loves, but he gets bad mpg (15-20mpg) and refuses to ecomod it in any way . I know the Toyota engines are known to last forever, and Top Gear has declared the truck to be indestructible.

Part1 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnWKz7Cthkk

Part2 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTPnIpjodA8

Part3 -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFnVZXQD5_k

Enjoy .

[elhigh]

Hi,

The 22R is a 2.4 liter (2366cc) engine. Unless you find somebody's stroker project, in which case anything could happen. You also can find some that have had their stock heads replaced with 20R heads, which breathe more freely for better power, but I don't know if that changes the displacement at all.

I don't have much room to comment on the 4x4 but I think it's a bit weird you're seeing such a wide range of mileage. I assume you're following a pretty consistent pattern of trips, or else the mileage spread wouldn't be noteworthy. I don't know what to tell you there, except that maybe you're seeing an intermittent fault in a sensor on the FI system.

Based on your description of the project truck, I would recommend you strongly consider making the 4x2 into your project, if its frame is okay. The chainsaw bar repair is laughable, but only because I'm not in a position to drive it. If that's the quality of work you're seeing, I wouldn't trust it any farther than I can throw it.

Air dams are your friend. Make a sturdy one under the bumper and then add landscape edging to take it down even lower. If you go off road and the edging gets torn off by landscape, well, you can get more for cheap at Home Depot. But in the meantime it'll save you a few bucks. You can also add edging to create rocker skirts for more/better air control.

I would assume you have tires that are wide enough to disallow fender skirts out back, but if they fall inside the body line at all then cover them.

One of these days I'm going to convert my truck from the stock Aisin carb to a Weber, but it's not cheap. I understand the Weber conversion is supposed to be a big improvement in both power and economy, and since the little truck was never a big torque monster any improvement is a good thing. The Aisin gets the job done, but I like the idea of having that capability of dragging around a half-ton of firewood AND getting better highway mileage than a new Corolla. But with the higher power requirements of pushing a 4x4 down the road, you might do better to move a project like that higher up the list.

[ps2fixer]

Thanks for the feed back. the MPG values I stated were from researching different sites including this one, fuely, and other general forums where people were posting their MPG. I don't have one currently running and driving, just this project of 3 trucks lol.

The 4x4 toyotas had a different body than the 2x4, so the fenders flare out more, so wheel skirts should be possible, but a lot of angles to deal with. I'm not one of those people throwing 32s on a little truck that are super wide or anything, just going to go with stock sized tires with fairly agressive tread.

According to the wiki, the 20r head has a smaller combustion chamber, so it makes it higher compression and better flow, so if I ever need to rebuild the engine, I think the 20R head upgrade should be well worth it .

One thing I didn't say before, the O2 sensor isn't hooked up, and I can't locate the plug for it. If I remember correctly, it is only a 1 wire. That might be part of the running issues besides the vacuum leak I already found. The truck will also need rear shocks (maybe fronts too), I have a pair from when my dad had an 82, so hopefully they didn't change . Still no photos , I go off shift soon, so I'll probably be working on it some soon. Hoping to get the parts trucks over the weekend.

For the chainsaw bar frame, my dad and I both can weld, and have scrap metal laying around, so we can fab something up to beef the frame up some. The welds on the chainsaw bars appear to be a quality weld, just not so sure how well the bars will hold up lol.

Kind of ironic that the 2.4L 22R engine is rated about the same HP or less than my 1.8L corolla engine. Of course the 22R has a bit more torque. Interesting to read about the turbo version of the engine, might be an ok idea to look into that as well .

[Sporty Modder]

early or late 22re?
Can be answered with the valve cover. Squareish or round.
I have a late motor in my 84 Celica, and get high 30's mpg on highway, my mother in law claims 36 out of her 91 pickup 4x4.
Late motor 115 hp early motor 105,
Let me know i have learned alot about these little motors.

[ps2fixer]

By boxed off vs round you mean like these? I only looked at the engine a couple of times, but I'm thinking it is the more boxed off style, looked the same as the 22r spare engine that is still together.



According to the little research I did on the differences between the two, the later model had the intake simplified some so it was less restrictive and seems to have given it +hp which should be also more efficent or atleast the same.

36 out of the 4x4 91 sounds really good to me, but I'm assuming little to no eco mods right?

[elhigh]

Cracking into the 30+mpg region in a 4x4 is the holy grail, if you can do that you're golden. Even in a little thriftbox like the Toy.

It was never big on power but the 22R makes decent torque for a motor its size. Its greatest strength is that it's a really durable design, a stout bottom end and very flexible power delivery. It's a good engine to have when you're trying to teach someone how to drive stick.

Subbed with interest. I've always been a big fan of the 22R, even if I'm not that wild about other Toyota vehicles.

[ps2fixer]

I don't think 30mpg will be too hard, but my conditions are pretty ideal for mpg. Long trips (40 miles one way to work), I can drive 45-55mph w\e is the most efficient, not too many of stops, mainly rolling turns.

I checked the truck out a bit better today, and basically the whole floor pan for the drivers side needs replaced including rocker pannels, the frame is pretty much toast, sadly the chain saw bars are probably holding it together. There is hope, the guy said the 2wd truck has a solid frame, but sadly it is the reg cab, I'm 6'2" so I need all the room I can get lol. Anyway, worse case, I'll get this one going and just use it as a play toy till the frame gets too bad, and I'll be keeping an eye out for another with a solid body/frame.

Anyway, back to the running issue. the clamps were not tight on the intake to the mass air flow meter, so I fixed the clamps (all bent up oem ones) and got it sealed up and it would atleast idle. It still went up and down for rpm though . Pretty sure it needs the vacuum lines replace, don't see any holes or major dry rot, but several are rather loose fitting and probably are leaking slightly. The O2 sensor isn't hooked up, so maybe the ECU is searching for it's learning curve, but it can't get a reading so it keeps going rich/lean? The wire harness is pretty hacked up, so this isn't exactly an ideal machine to fix up for good .

I have been a fan of the older Toyotas, mainly the 80s pickups and the 70s corollas, the 90s Camry and Corolla are boring to drive, but reliable. My dad had an 82 pickup with only 30k miles on it, sat for a good 18 years in his pole barn waiting for the body work to be done (he never got to it lol), gave it to me for my 16th birthday, and it had to sit outside for a few years. In that time, the frame went to complete crap, and I had a ranger at the time, so didn't see a point in trying to fix it even though now I'm kicking my self lol. Anyway, the body went to the scrap yard, engine and trans was sold. It was the 2wd model too.

[ps2fixer]

PHOTOS! Finally right? lol


Well the 150kb file limit really kicked some of the photos out , i'll upload else where.

[elhigh]

I see your rocker panels are going the way of the dodo, too.

That frame patch is funny, I chuckled at it. I say funny, if I had to ride around on it I'd probably NOT be chuckling.

My earlier question still stands: is the 4x2 in decent enough shape you could make that your project? I'm not sure how much of the 4x4 running gear will transfer over but I'm pretty sure everything abaft the firewall is 100% compatible, your only stumbling blocks would be making the front drive bits fit. Fit the engine and tranny and other stuff into the 4x2 and make it over as a 4x4.

Gads, that would be a big job. It sure is easy to talk about when it isn't in my driveway, I admit.

[ps2fixer]

The other 2 trucks I don't currently have, I'm picking them up this weekend, and when I got the first truck it was right before dark so didn't get to check them over much . I know the 2wd one has a pretty shot body, but I couldn't get under it, too many other dead cars around it and trees. The other 4x4 one I saw the rocker panels were solid, but that is as far as I checked it.

I got more photos, I'll upload as I get a chance and more photos of the other 2 trucks (will be 1 truck + pile of parts when I get it home lol).